Canadian coach Benoit Groux took charge of Chelyabinsk Traktor

MOSCOW, May 6. Chelyabinsk “Traktor” appointed Canadian Benoit Gru to the post of head coach of the team, according to the hockey club’s website.
The contract with the 56-year-old North American specialist is valid for two years. He replaced Alexei Zavarukhin, who had been in office since November 2023, the Russian was asked to remain in the club system and head Chelmet from the All-Russian Hockey League (VHL).

«We received many positive recommendations from current players , who worked with Gru, functionaries of the Canadian Hockey Federation and general managers of overseas clubs, they said that he is a great specialist in the field of player development, is attentive to details, is strong tactically and knows how to motivate hockey players. In addition, we are impressed by his human qualities and desire to try. his strength in the KHL. Before his appointment, Benoit presented us with his vision of Traktor’s playing model and it became clear that with him the team would be even more competitive in the fight for the main trophy of the league. In the coming days, Benoit will begin forming his coaching staff, where he has a full map. -blanche,” said Traktor general manager Alexey Volkov.

Benoit Groux has worked in the National Hockey League (NHL) Tampa Bay Lightning club system since 2016, being the head coach of the farm team. club — «Syracuse Crunch». Previously, Gru also led the Canadian U20 team and led it to its first gold medal at the World Youth Championship in six years in 2015, when the Canadians beat the Russian team in the final with a score of 5:4.
Traktor finished the fight last season for the Gagarin Cup at the 1/2 final stage, losing in the series to Yaroslavl Lokomotiv with a total score of 0-4. “Traktor” became the first club in the history of the KHL to lose a playoff series “dry” after winning the series in the same way in the previous round.